Genes in Space, finally
Genes in Space competition winner at Kennedy Space Centre watches her creation head for the stars to carry out her research. James Langton reports from Florida
Alia Al Mansoori watches a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida yesterday, carrying her Genes in Space experiment to the International Space Station.
First there was a flash of light, followed by a wall of sound, as the Falcon 9 rocket lifted into clear Florida skies, carrying the dreams of Emirati teenager Alia Al Mansoori into space.
Loaded on the Dragon capsule on top of the Space X rocket was her winning experiment in the UAE Genes in Space competition, sponsored by The National.
Watching the Falcon 9 climb into the sky, Alia said: “I literally can’t believe that my experiment is now in space. All the months of effort was worthwhile.
“The feeling I got when it launched was just so inspiring.”
The lift-off of what Nasa calls CRS12, took place at 12.31pm US Eastern Standard time (8.31pm UAE time) as the nine Merlin engines on the rocket ignited simultaneously to produce 1.7 million pounds of thrust.
It began with the flash of the engines igniting. Seconds later, the sound, travelling two and half miles from the launchpad, hit the spectator area, increasing as the Falcon rose higher until everything seemed to shake and vibrate.
Two minutes and 42 seconds, and now travelling at almost 6,450 kilometres an hour, the first stage shut down, with the second stage launching the Dragon capsule into a parking orbit about 400 kilometres above the surface of the Earth – all within 11 minutes of launch.
Eight minutes after launch, the first stage returned to the Kennedy Space Centre under its own power, announcing its arrival with another sonic boom and landing on retractable legs.
The Falcon is the first rocket to have this capability, which allows it to be reused up to 10 times.
Now in space, 13 minutes after launch, the Dragon deployed its solar panels and began circling the Earth,
Also watching the launch was Dr Fatima Al Aydaroos from the UAE Space Agency, who said she hoped Alia’s success would encourage other Emiratis to follow the path of science.
Dr Al Aydaroos, Space Science Senior Specialist at the agency, said: “Alia has been a very good role model – by doing what is her passion, and I have no doubt she will be an astronaut in the near future.”
Over the next two days, the Dragon capsule will manoeuvre closer to the International Space Station and dock with the help of the station’s robotic arm.
After unloading, one of two American astronauts are expected to perform Alia’s experiment using samples developed by the pupil with help from Harvard University and carried out on a machine called a miniPCR, which can replicate genetic material and test it under a number of conditions.
The experiment has several applications, including research into diseases and also seeing if it is possible to test human genomes in space – something that has never been done before. If successful, they will help human beings to better prepare for the radiation experienced in deep space flight to destinations such as Mars – one of Alia’s ambitions.
At a date still to be confirmed it will be returned to Earth on a Dragon capsule, where it will be evaluated by the 15-year-old pupil at Al Mawakeb School, and the Harvard team.
In her trip to the US, Alia and her family have seen the historic launchpad where Apollo
11 took off for the Moon, met Chris Ferguson, the commander of the last Space Shuttle mission and seen inside the Boeing workshops where the next generation of spaceships, the Starliner, is being built.
Alia’s journey continues after the launch. She has been invited to New York for an interview with the magazine Teen Vogue and will travel to Canada for a meeting with Marc Garneau, the country’s minister of transport, who is a former astronaut and a veteran of three Space Shuttle missions.
I literally can’t believe that my experiment is now in space. All the months of effort was worthwhile. The feeling I got when it launched was just so inspiring